Live Review: Childish Gambino, Channel Tres

Channel Tres was a major vibe. Crowd warm-up was his thing, hyping the early comers up by getting them to wave their arms and chant some obscenities. Accompanied by two dancers, the trio took the stage by storm, making it their own for the 30 minutes they inhabited it - from rapping about "bitches" to gliding across the stage with some slick dance moves, he had our attention. 

We caught backstage glimpses of Childish Gambino, aka Donald Glover, and crew on the big screen, teasing his arrival. He arrived on his podium bare-chested and wearing only his now-iconic white linen pants. He laid down the two golden rules of being in his "church" - one, that we enjoy ourselves, and two, that we do away with our phones as this was an "experience". Now that was an understatement. 

The stage turned pink and came alive with lights, pyrotechnics and dancers for Summertime Magic, transitioning into Worldstar, which saw his guitarist take the limelight as the cameras followed Glover off stage. 

He popped up in the stands to preach, as the stage set moved to reveal his entire band, who he introduced one by one as he walked down to greet lucky patrons, taking the moment to give a solemn apology for cancelling last year.

Glover returned to the stage to play the “Awaken, My Love!” portion of the set, grooving across the stage to Boogieman as we looked on in complete awe of his being. His stage presence was second to none. Charisma oozed from every bone of this man’s body; every move, facial expression and vocal was calculated yet so effortless - you couldn’t look away. 

Tonight’s crowd was rated a “20 or some shit” as Glover took to one knee in a sort of confessional to admit none of his problems mattered when he was on stage and to pass on words of wisdom from his late father, before he hyped us up again with Riot. 

Terrified was a set highlight. Glover began it almost a cappella before springing to life and practically gliding across stage as he crooned the lyrics impeccably. 

Glover had one rule for new track Human Sacrifice – we had to get up and drop at the beat. We obeyed. The crowd remained standing for This Is America, respecting the visceral nature and cultural weight of the performance – kudos to those young dancers.

If the first portion of the set was for Glover, the encore was for us. Glover returned to stage to play Sober, 3005 and Sweatpants as the crowd heaved and spat back every word. Redbone was fittingly chosen to close out his service, Glover once again getting among his people before finishing on his podium where we could rightfully worship him.

We were indoctrinated into the church of Childish Gambino and we only hope we’ll get a chance to worship again.